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PRESIDENTS' MESSAGE
table of
contents
Presidents
Message
Letter from
Editor
LDEI-SF Board
Dame News:
Linda Anusasananan
Georgeanne Brennan
Linda Carucci
Sue Conley
Peggy Smith
Jeannette Ferrary
Janet Fletcher
Cheryl Forberg
Mary Gassen
Suzette Gresham
Arnell Hinkle
Tanya Holland
Amy Hoopes
Sibella Kraus
Emily Luchetti
Alice Medrich
Patricia Rain
Deborah Rogers
Renee Shepherd
Cathrine Sneed
Carolyn Wente
Frankie Whitman
Dana Woldow
Tanya Holland
Amy Hoopes
Dear San Francisco Dames,
Fall back! Not us! Fall ahead! I can't believe it's that time of year
already and I know so many of us are getting busier and busier.
Despite our busy schedules, we just had several opportunities to
connect and connect we did.
Many of you have attended the wonderful events organized by
Event Chair Kathleen Hill. I'm still hearing rave reviews of the
visit to the Fig Germplasm Repository. Who knew that figs could
be so complex and interesting? In planning the events for 2015,
Kathleen will be joined by Eileen Spitalny, who transferred from
the Phoenix chapter two years ago.
The visit to McEvoy ranch let us see olives hanging on the trees
and the machinery that turns them into oil before we lunched on
sandwiches and salads from Della Fattoria and sipped McEvoy
wine.
Celebrating our Chapter's Twenty-fifth Anniversary at Cakebread
Cellars with Grand Dame Dolores Cakebread was a special treat.
About twenty of us enjoyed a delicious luncheon in a lovely
setting. Great food, great wines, great company...what more do
you need?
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Past Events:
Art of Eating
Olive Oil Tasting
Noe Valley Bakery
Fig Day
Induction Dinner
Fellowship Award
McEvoy Tour
Chapter Anniversary
New Members Brunch
And then there was the new member's brunch at the home of
Jerry DiVecchio. Sixteen of us gathered to welcome Lane
Giguiere, of Matchbox Winery, who was the only new member
who could make it. It's a wonderful time, much like the
Ancestral Potluck, where we all go around and tell our personal
herstory and really get to know one another better.
Upcoming Events
Ancestral Potluck
Art of Eating
We have an amazing, dynamic group and we should be proud! Cathrine Sneed of The
Garden Project related the history of this special program and gave suggestions on how
Les Dames can support this noble cause. See more about it in Dame News.
I (Tanya) just returned from the LDEI International conference in Boston that
regretfully Amy couldn't attend this year, but we had seven members present- a nice
representation considering that the location was 3000 plus miles away. It was yet
another inspiring gathering of some of the most influential women in our industry. I
can't encourage all of you enough to plan to attend a conference in the near future.
Next year's location is Charleston, SC and Washington, DC in 2016. They promise to
bring it back West in 2017, but it's always worth the trip. It's part vacation, part
education, and all fun! I have the photos to prove it next time I see you!
If at any time you have an idea for an event, please don't hesitate to suggest it. We
truly want to make this organization work for you. In other news, we're diligently
working on establishing more scholarships...some for cooks, some for sommeliers or
aspiring sommeliers and we're open to suggestions. The more membership
participation, the better.
Happy last six weeks of the year! Yikes!
Warm regards,
Tanya and Amy
Dear Sister Dames,
Many thanks to all the Dames who sent me news (theirs as well as
other Dames). Thanks as well to those who chronicled past events
with stories and photos. It helps make this newsletter lively and
current.
I want to make a pitch for the Ancestral Pot-Luck Recipe
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Collection. The first recipes were published as part of the Summer,
2011, Potage. Subsequent additions went out under separate cover in the springs of
2013 and 2014. We now have about forty recipes. Dames Celia Sack, Penni Wisner, and
Elaine Corn have joined me to curate the collection. We will be posting recipes on the
San Francisco Les Dames website (www.lesdamesf.org), AND there is the possibility of
a digital or a fine-print edition of selected recipes in the future.
This year may be the last year of the Pot-Luck Dinner, so this is your chance to
share those heirloom treasures.
Here are a few pointers to help your Ancestral Recipe contribution shine:
The recipe should be original: something handed down from your mother,
grandmother, grandfather, uncle, whoever, or adapted by them from one of their
favorite cookbooks. If you have hand-written recipe cards or notes written by them,
please scan them and send them along with the recipe.
Stories matter. Please include any memories or anecdotes about the recipe-rituals
surrounding its making, arguments connected with its preparation, anything that makes
the recipe come alive for the person who will make it.
If there are specific serving platters or utensils that are part of your memory of the
dish, please bring them to the Pot Luck dinner. If they are fragile family heirlooms that
you would rather not transport, please consider making the dish, taking a photo, and
sending it along with your recipe.
Try to write the recipe so that someone who has never made or tasted the dish can
reproduce it.
Please send an electronic copy of the recipe and any other scans or photos to me:
[email protected].
Fran Gage
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Linda Anusasananan was on the panel "Can We
Reset the Family Table" for the 2014 Domino Foods,
Inc. Culinaria Query & Lecture Series hosted by the
SoFAB Institute, in cooperation with Culinary
Historians of Northern California. The event was on
Sunday, October 26, at 4:00 p.m. at Biscuits &
Blues, the Southern eatery and live music club in
San Francisco's Theater District.
Georgeanne Brennan has launched a new line of
culinary and garden products called La Vie Rustic. The
collection includes fruit-infused salts, seeds for French
lettuces and chicory, fig trees that are cuttings of a
special variety from Georgeanne's orchard, and a
Jambon Cru DYI kit. Go to www.lavierustic.com for
more information.
Linda Carucci
Hello to all! I'm sorry to have missed
several LDE events this past year, but it
sounds like the group has been having fun.
As some of you know, I was in hibernation
for a spell, recovering from a concussion,
and have had to limit my activities over
the past year.
Now that I'm feeling 100 percent again and
back in the saddle, I've been doing what I
love most: teaching cooking classes and
testing recipes for a series of Weber
cookbooks.
I conducted a free, public class entitled
"Seasoning to Taste" at the Rockridge library on November 8th. It was a fun, interactive
tasting experience geared to adults, tasting samples included.
This summer I launched a Chef Tribute Series at Draeger's Culinary Center in San Mateo.
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These cooking demonstrations feature a three-course menu and spirited conversation
about culinarians whose work has had an impact on my teaching, writing, and cooking.
Thus far, tribute classes featuring Julia Child, Judy Rodgers, and Charlie Trotter have
been well received and it's been a rich experience for me to delve into and present the
work of these late, great colleagues. On February 19, 2015 we'll pay tribute to Marcella
Hazan, followed by Marion Cunningham on April 23, 2015. For further information or to
sign up: [email protected]
Piedmont High School has a stunning new student center and cafe where I'll be teaching
Culinary Knife Skills, Thanksgiving 101, and Primi Piatti: Risotto, Gnocchi, and Pasta as
part of the offerings of the Piedmont Adult School program. These classes are open to
the general public and I'd be glad to provide dates and menus. If you're interested,
please email [email protected]
Finally, I was quite humbled and honored to be recognized with the Lifetime
Achievement Award by the San Francisco Professional Food Society at their annual BBQ
on September 6. You'll recognize some other Dames' names among the previous
recipients of this award: Joyce Jue and Weezie Mott. And like Joyce and Weezie, I've
still got a few more good projects in me. Stay tuned.
Sue Conley and Peggy Smith
The co-founders of Cowgirl Creamery won a Women in
Business: Leaders, Innovators, Visionaries award from
the North Bay Business Journal at their fourteenth
awards dinner and reception in June, 2014. Seventeen
women were chosen from fifty nominations based on
many factors, including leadership roles, business
innovations, vision, and community involvement.
Jeannette Ferrary
"Everything Reminds Me of Sex" was the title of my
presentation about the humor of M. F. K. Fisher at the
San Francisco Book Club of California's Symposium on
Gastronomy and Fine Print in October. It was my
pleasure to revisit her writings, both published and in
my decade-and-a-half correspondence with her, to show
how her elegiac words on food and her stint as a gag
writer for Paramount pictures were in no way
incongruous!
An exhibit of my street photography, "Flowers in Our
Hair: from the Streets of San Francisco," is featured this
fall, October 24 to December 5, at the gallery of the
San Mateo Library.
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Janet Fletcher announces the debut of Planet Cheese, a
weekly e-mail newsletter devoted to her favorite food group.
Read about new cheeses, new shops, cheese-focused travel,
and cheese trends. Subscriptions are complimentary and Janet
invites all Dames to subscribe at www.janetfletcher.com
Cheryl Forberg has been the nutritionist for the
NBC reality series The Biggest Loser for fifteen
seasons. She is also the nutritionist for Omni Hotels
& Resorts.
Her new book, A Small Guide to Losing Big will be
self-published in January 2015. She will be
promoting her book at several Omni properties next
year beginning with a Weight Loss Weekend in
January at LaCosta followed by a class at Los
Angeles Dame Zov Karamardian's restaurant in
Tustin, Zov's Bistro.
Mary Gassen
Everyone knows me from the bakery, but I want the
Dames to know about my consulting business as
well. I provide financial consulting to culinary
businesses through my company called Launch
http://sflaunch.com. I can now add Kickstarter
campaigns to my consulting skills since I am doing a
crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter for the
bakery. It will run from October 15, 2014 until
November 18, 2014.
I am conducting a workshop entitled "Start Where You Are" on December 2nd at the
Hivery in Sausalito. The program provides the fundamentals, need-to-knows, and to-do
checklists for ensuring success as a new business entity, or as a business looking to get
better organized. Here is a link: http://www.thehivery.com/start-where-you-area-business-primer-12214.html
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Suzette Gresham
Acquerello, Suzette's restaurant, received two stars
from the latest Michelin Guide that was released in
October. She is one of only three women in the
country with this distinction. What a perfect gift for
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the restaurant.
Congratulations!
Arnell Hinkle
The Fulbright Scholar Program has selected Arnell, executive
director of CANFIT, to serve as a Fulbright specialist in
public/global health for a five-year term. The Fulbright
Specialist Program awards grants to US Scholars and
professionals to engage in short-term, collaborative projects at
institutions and universities in over 140 countries. Her
experience will be matched with an overseas host institution,
where she will work on a cross-national topic that aims to
strengthen institutional development needs.
Through this opportunity, Arnell will work internationally with institutions that want to
use her twenty-five years of experience educating youth, adult providers, and university
students; and collaboratively strategizing effective community nutrition and physical
activity solutions that take youth culture, race, culture, and socio-economic status into
account. For link on Fulbright Specialist Program http://www.cies.org/program
/fulbright-specialist-program#discipline
Tanya Holland
Tanya is busy signing her book, Brown Sugar Kitchen: Recipes
and Stories From Everyone's Favorite Soul Food Restaurant
(Chronicle Books) at many venues. Go to
www.tanyaholland.com for a schedule of appearances.
Adding to the buzz, Michael Chabon's foreward to the book
was recently published in The New York Review of Books.
On November 16, Tanya will be the Honorary Chef Chair for
Taste of the Nation, East Bay, an event that raises money for
No Kid Hungry.
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Amy Hoopes
Our co-president was the recipient of a Forty Under Forty
Award announced by Direct Marketing News in October.
The organization calls the winners "a group of young,
standout marketers whose work has already left an
indelible mark on their organizations, clients, and the
industry as a whole." More than 200 email nominations
were received, all with glowing words of praise. Amy
traveled to New York City to accept her award.
Sibella Kraus
On May 14, 2014, the Natural Resources Defense Council
and the Berkeley Food Institute named the winners of
their sixth annual Growing Green Awards, who were
chosen from hundreds of nominations from across the
country. Congratulations to Sibella, president of
Sustainable Agriculture Education, who won the Regional
Food Leader award.
In a piece published in OnEarth magazine, Sibella said,
"Bay Area farms and rangelands cover 1.87 million acres
and produce almost enough food to feed all Bay Area
residents. For a fraction of the money running through
the virtual-tech world these working
landscapes could be protected. The time has come to make investments in agricultural
resources and local food systems synonymous with regional sustainability planning."
Emily Luchetti
Emily,whose long career spans Stars, Farallon since
1987, and Waterbar since 2008, is now the "Chief
Pastry Officer" (her words), for the Park Tavern group,
which operates Marlowe, Park Tavern, and the
Cavalier.
She started on September 1st and will work to upgrade
the pastries at all three restaurants.
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Alice Medrich
My new book will be at the end of October. I am very
excited about this book. Flavor Flours is meant for
everyone who bakes at home as well as
professionally, not just for those living or working
gluten free. These "flavor flours" (I call them) are full
of untapped possibility, they deserve to be treated as
heroes- flavor ingredients-rather than mere
"substitutions" for wheat! My co-author, Maya Klein,
and I have taken a huge new step.
Flavor Flours: A New Way to Bake with Teff,
Buckwheat, Sorghum, Other Wholes & Ancient Grains,
Nuts and Non-Wheat Flours (Artisan).
By Alice Medrich with Maya Klein
Patricia Rain
As part of her One Percent Solution campaign
for pure vanilla, Dame Patricia Rain (Vanilla
Queen) joined Janet Sawyer, CEO, of Little Pod,
for England's first National Real Vanilla Day,
held at Bickleigh Castle in Devon. She also spoke
at the Powderham Food Festival and Michael
Caine's Culinary Academy at Exeter College. As
a new generation of imitation vanilla comes into
the marketplace, Patricia encourages you to
join her in promoting pure vanilla, not only for
our enjoyment, but to keep the vanilla industry
alive.
Additionally, at the tenth anniversary of the Global Women's Leadership Network held
October 26th, Patricia accepted the Leader of Impact Award on behalf of the Ugandan
chapter of the Regional Alliance of East and South African Women Leaders, which she
helped to create in 2013.
Deborah Rogers
Deborah was recently nominated to the board of directors
of the Olive Oil Commission of California. She will also
serve on the Communications and Outreach
sub-committee. The newly formed Olive Oil Commission
consists of ten members, including two producers and one
handler from each of the three primary olive oil producing
districts in California and a public member. Deborah is
the only woman currently serving on the board.
The Commission's goal is to improve the state's competitiveness in the global olive oil
industry, and its primary strategy to reach that goal will be to set meaningful and
mandatory olive oil standards. On September 26, 2014 the California Department of
Food and Agriculture successfully adopted most of the standards proposed by the Olive
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Oil Commission of California.
Renee Shepherd
Renee was a presenter at the annual California
Agriculture in the Classroom Conference, held in Santa
Cruz in October. Santa Cruz County is the smallest
agriculture-producing county in the state in land mass
and one of the most diverse, producing such crops as cut
flowers, strawberries, artichokes, and timber. Two
hundred twenty California educators heard ideas to
enhance their curriculums with scenarios about food.
California Secretary of Agriculture, Karen Ross,
welcomed the group.
Cathrine Sneed
SF-LDEI first encountered Cathrine Sneed and The Garden Project in 1992 when we held
a meeting, organized by Dame Sibella Kraus, at the Carroll Street Garden in the Bayview
district of San Francisco. We were inspired by the work in progress.
The Garden Project involvement in organic food production and nutrition work made
them a fit for our support. (For additional background, visit their website
www.gardenproject.org.)
As a result, SF Dames have worked with The Garden Project (TGP) as part of Green
Tables. SF and national LDEI have used Cathrine's help for Green Tables since it was
initiated. Dame Renee Shepherd (Renee's Garden Seeds) has provided seed to TGP for
some years. Through SF Dames, Cathrine received the MFK Fisher Award in 1994 (prior
to the shift to writers). Dames and TGP have a long history together. And Cathrine has
been a member of the SF Dames.
Roots of The Garden Project date to 1982 when Cathrine Sneed developed a
horticultural rehabilitation program on the twelve-acre farm at the San Francisco
County Jail with Sheriff Michael Hennessey. In 1992, TGP then offered structure and
support to former offenders through job training in gardening, counseling, and
assistance in continuing education. The program's success was measured not only by the
community support it provided, but by the dramatically reduced recidivism of the
participants. Soon TGP also included environmentally-based job training for low-income
people to impact low-income communities through environmental and nutrition
education programming.
For over twenty years, TGP has helped low-income people find a way out of the cycle of
crime and poverty; it has transformed urban communities through greening projects;
and it has directly impacted the lives of the poor through donations of organic
vegetables. TGP has gained international attention and reputation as a model for crime
prevention, urban agriculture, and job training.
Now, TGP includes teenagers and young adults, called Earth Stewards, who come from
crime prevention programs for at-risk individuals. Stewards learn job skills through work
on a variety of environmental projects. TGP workers also get paid.
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Job Training and Workforce Development:
The Garden Project offers environmentally based job training for at-risk populations in
order to prevent crime, improve economic situations, and to address chronic
unemployment and underemployment among specific populations. TGP hosts a summer
program for low-income high school students, over 300 participated this year. For young
adults, TGP is year round. In addition to career-building and counseling programs, the
TGP also helps their employees attain their GED and attend courses at local community
colleges.
Food Production:
Project participants cultivate organic vegetables and herbs to support food pantries,
health initiatives, and nutrition education for low-income, low-mobility families and
seniors in order to improve food access and address high rates of disease related to
diet. Last year, TGP grew and distributed over 65,000 tons of organic vegetables for
thirty-five community food pantries.
Vegetation Management:
Project participants work on invasive weed management of public properties and
cultivation of California native plants in order to support the local ecology. Participants
work over 1,400 acres in San Francisco, in addition to work in the Crystal Springs
Reservoir in San Mateo County, and at Hetch Hetchy in the Yosemite Valley.
Environmental Learning:
At the Project Farm, TGP hosts environmental-learning activities for children, and
environmental-therapy programming for low-income adults and children to foster
environmental awareness and improved health. Each year, hundreds of elementary
school children participate in farm programming.
This project is housed within the SF Sheriff's Department and has but one paid
employee, former Dame Cathrine. The rest of their budget is just over $2 million, from
the SF Public Utilities Commission to landscape and maintain a number of SF water
reservoirs and to grow street trees for the City to plant.
Cathrine shared with us that The Garden Project faced loss of funding and possible land
use. Negotiations with the city have resulted in promise of support, but nothing is
signed off yet. One goal is to get the land at the jail designated as a city garden, not
just as property of the jail lands. That said, the Garden Project (City Garden) is still not
out of the woods, since they face many resource shortfalls. As one example of the
commitment of staff, they forgo fringe benefits such as a pension, in order to plow as
many funds as possible into maintaining the program. They also don't have a budget for
capital improvements, such as replacing equipment that reaches its useful lifespan,
resulting in the need to hand clear many acres, in order to do their fall planting.
What can SF Dames do if they'd like to help The Garden Project?
First: Cathrine' prime request is for press. Stories about TCP in any media. Stories
generate contributions. Funding is always short.
A contract from the PUC has come to an end. An RFP was issued, and the TGP was
designated the recipient of the contract, which will go into effect November 1st.Those
of you who write or do PR will have suggestions.
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Second: Cathrine is seeking to help create awareness about the need for the farm to be
designated a City resource with city funding. This will require letter writing, and raising
awareness among legislators, neighborhood associations, and San Franciscans. She has a
list of names and addresses available and Dames may have additional suggestions.
The Garden Project also has a wish list (on the website under donations). Easily suited
to Dames:
Donate your time: teach a workshop or lead a demonstration.
For cooking, there is a kitchen at the jail farm. But other locations are possible. And we
have more to teach and share, too. She is particularly interested in having these lessons
on YouTube or some social media thing the kids relate to.
Donate products for the meals served to students at the farm:
spices, flour, butter, etc. Do any of you have clients who would like recognition for such
help?
Donate cooking supplies (pots) and equipment (refrigerator, freezer). Changing
restaurant equipment, clearing out your kitchen? Getting a new model of something?
TGP might be able to use your no longer useful items.
It is clear that the Garden Project has numerous assets, including the inspired
leadership and commitment of former Dame Cathrine, as well as many boosters and
supporters, such as local and national leaders. This would be a great project for our
chapter that encompasses the Green Tables initiative. It offers exposure for Garden
Project youth to the many vocational possibilities in food, wine and hospitality. Hosting
a fundraising small plate, wine, and silent auction event that highlights the creativity of
our chapter chefs and other members, without requiring a large time or financial outlay
by our chapter, at the home of one of these leaders is a possibility.
Our creative and committed members began putting forward their desire to be a
resource to Cathrine and the Garden Project and to figure out collectively how to bring
more needed resources to ensure that this visionary and much needed project grows
and thrives. Some of these commitments included Dame Lisa Klinck-Shea, with an
interest in developing a media strategy, Dame Kathleen Hill, who has founded and
supports a youth-led gardening project in Sonoma, Dame Laura Brainin-Rodriguez who
has provided nutrition education resources and who can also contribute a nutrition and
cooking train-the-trainer eight-week series for the youth through her project. Dame
Elaine Corn offered to help as she could. Dame Renee Shepherd already supports The
Garden Project with seed donations. Happily many more Dames have come forward
expressing interest in being involved since our new members brunch.
Carolyn Wente
The Wine Institute, an association that represents
almost 1,000 California wineries, announced the results
of its Board elections in September, 2014, and Carolyn
is the 2014-2015 Board Chairperson. She is the fifth
Wente member to serve as a Wine Institute chairman.
For eighty years the Institute has worked to protect
and promote the interest of California wine by
supporting export growth, direct-to-consumer shipping,
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and sustainable winegrowing. "I am honored to chair
this vital work with my fellow vintners," said Carolyn.
Frankie Whitman
I just started working with a small,
premium, artisan maple syrup company.
The syrup is produced on small family
farms in the southern Berkshires. The
company is called Mead & Mead. Winter
Mead, the founder, was raised on a maple
farm in northwest Connecticut. We are
just beginning distribution in the Bay Area
and are focusing on foodservice-chefs,
pastry chefs, bartenders, and bakers.
Please contact me
([email protected]) if you would
like a sample.
Dana Woldow
Dana, a school food advocate since 2002, is a contributor to
the online publication, Beyond Chron The Voice of the Rest.
Go to http://beyondchron.org/schools-ban-hot-dogs/ to
read one of her recent posts.
The Art of Eating, a Tribute to MFK Fisher
May 18, 2014
Bouverie Preserve of Audubon Canyon Ranch
13935 Sonoma Highway 12
Glen Ellen, California
By Jerry Di Vecchio
It was a truly beautiful afternoon for the MFK Fisher Art of Eating event on Sunday, May
19, 2014, at the Audubon Canyon Ranch Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen.
LDEI-SF has supported this annual event since it's inception in 2011; our purpose is to
preserve Last House, the final home of MFK Fisher, for cultural use.
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Shortly, members of the LDEI-SF board and directors at ACR will meet to create specific
objectives pertaining to Last House.
This year, ACR sold more tickets and revenue was greater than for 2013. They raised
$123,000, nearly $30,000 in the fund-a-need. ACR said that underwriting wasn't as
strong as hoped, but there were some personal shifts at ACR that contributed to that
problem.
The preliminary walk around of nibbling and sipping gave guests time to examine and
bid for the marvelous choices of silent auction items, richly enhanced by donations from
SF Dames Rosemary O'Connell, Sue Conley, Peggy Smith, Joanne Weir, Tina Salter,
Debbie Zachareas, Mary Constant, Paige Poulos, Linda Carruci, Joyce Goldstein, Janet
Fletcher, Marsha McBride, Hannah Rahill, Gail Pirie, Linda Anusasananan, Amaryll
Schwertner, Amy Hoopes, Lori Regis, Marie Simmons, Margaret Fox, Alice Waters, Tanya
Holland, Patricia Unterman, Alice Medrich, Debby Fortune, Eileen Spitalny, Kathleen
Hill, Dru Rivers, Flo Braker, Emily Luchetti, and possibly more! Some details slipped by
me.
SF Dames truly rallied to set the table for the delicious picnic lunch with wines. It was a
Dames meal all the way. The program clearly credited SF Dames and their participating
companies: Cowgirl Creamery, Laura Chenel Cheese, Marin French Cheese, Noe Valley
Bakery, Rivoli Restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen, Taste Catering, Boncara Biscoti, Fairy
Tale Brownies, Fat Belly Farms, Wente Vineyards.
ACR live auction went very well with great thanks to the enthusiastic support of the
auctioneer by co-host Dame Leslie Sbrocco. SF Dames-Paige Poulos, Tanya Holland, Tina
Salter, Joanne Weir- donated four of the ten big money makers.
Randy Tarpey-Schwed's impressive exhibit of Mary Frances' works in the Bouverie House
emphasized the significance of her presence.
J. Scott Feierabend, Executive Director, ACR, (and event host along with Leslie) was
lavish in his onstage praise of the SF-LDEI support.
The event program lists San Francisco Les Dames d'Escoffier as the Honorary
Committee. Kathleen Hill and I are on the AOE Committee.
Two people were specially honored at the event. One was Dr. Marty Griffin, founder of
ACR, the other was our own Dame Carolyn Wente for her significant contributions and
commitment.
Thanks, also, to Dames who just came to help or enjoy the day--Beverly Soules, Margo
True, and others.
ACR's Trisha Fontan was our action coordinator, and she wants you to know:
"The most important thing to pass along is we couldn't do it without your support, and
honestly I am not sure we would even try at this point."
As you may know, the ACR event supports their children's education programs on their
preserves. Our goal, as SF Dames, is to turn MFK's Last House into a historical site of
some sort. ACR now understands how important the MFK's on-site heritage is for their
fund raising, and discussion is ongoing on how to use the house effectively.
Seriously considered is Last House as home for Randy Tarpey-Schwed's amazing
collection of MFK materials, and also for nature materials that pertain to the Preserve.
The ranch manager, currently living in Last House, is nearing retirement and the use of
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the house is finally open for planning.
So, not so briefly, the AOE was a good day's work thanks to the tremendous turnout and
support by SF Dames, and a huge step forward for our chapter.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Tasting and Reception
June 26, 2014
SD26 Restaurant
19 East 26th Street, New York
By Nancy Ash
On a beautiful summer's day in Manhattan, Dames and
others from the West and East coasts gathered at the
venerable SD26 restaurant for a California Extra Virgin
Olive Oil Tasting. A collaboration of both the San
Francisco and New York chapters, this event was
co-sponsored by the California Olive Oil Council (COOC).
Five olive oils, all certified extra virgin by the California Olive Oil Council, were
sampled by forty-five attendees as the panel of presenters discussed the history of the
California olive oil industry and its expansive growth over the past twenty years. The
panel included San Francisco Dames Patricia Darragh, Sara Wilson, and Nancy Ash
(myself), as well as renowned restaurateur Tony May (co-owner of SD26 with his
daughter Dame Marissa May). Dame Nancy Wall Hopkins, senior deputy editor, food for
Better Homes and Gardens, a member of both the New York and Chicago chapters,
moderated the lively panel discussion.
Each panelist offered her/his unique insights on olive
oil. As executive director of the COOC for seventeen
years, Patricia has witnessed the industry growing from
a small number of boutique brands to production
volumes that surpass the country of France. As the
managing partner of Pasta Shop (as well as a group of
family-owned food businesses),
Sara Wilson commented that in the mid-80s there were only three extra-virgin olive oils
offered in her store ("and they weren't even very good!"), compared with fifty-plus oils
today. Tony May, who champions Italian products, found the range of flavors in the
California oils quite interesting yet different from the Italian oils used in his restaurant.
And I observed (as education coordinator for the COOC and president of Strictly Olive
Oil) that more and more consumers now understand what the phrase "extra-virgin"
actually means. Following the tasting, SD26's Executive Chef Matteo Bergamini
described how he approached pairing these California oils in recipes as we sampled five
delicious dishes; Watermelon & Beet Salad, Mint, Ricotta Salata with ENZO Bold; Sorana
Beans with Sicilian Shrimp, Parsley & Rosemary with Lucero Ascolano; Chilled Tomato
Soup, Burrata & Celery Sprouts with Frantoio Grove; Fassone Beef Tartare, Olive Oil
Mascarpone Mayo & Summer Truffle with Pasolivo Signature Blend; and Wild Bass
Carpaccio, Lime, Cucumbers & Fennel Pollen with Séka Hills Arbequina. The Séka Hills
oil was also used in the gelato and cookies served as dessert. Wente Vineyards and Tres
Sabores, courtesy of Dames Carolyn Wente, Amy Hoopes, and Julie Johnson, donated
the wines poured during this event.
Potage Fall 2014
Kudos to the organizers, Dames Roberta
Klugman (SF) and Joyce Appelman (NY),
for envisioning and executing an exciting
program that brought members of both
chapters together for an educational
afternoon. I look forward to future
collaborations, meeting more Dames from
other chapters, and especially my next
meal at SD26 the next time I visit
Manhattan.
Thanks to Gennaro Pecchia for sharing
images of this event.
Noe Valley Bakery Tour
July 24, 2014
4073 24th St., San Francisco
By Janet Griggs
Seven members joined Dame Mary Gassen at her Noe Valley Bakery for a tour of the
bakery Thursday, July 24. Mary, and husband, Michael, gave the group a history of their
business from wholesale artisan bakery to the purchase and renovation of Noe Valley
Bakery in 1995 and the evolution of being business owners in San Francisco for the last
nineteen years. In that time, Mary and Michael expanded their wholesale/retail bakery
business to include a separate wholesale bakery facility and a bakery café in Albany.
Over time, they came to the realization that Noe Valley Bakery was the heart of their
operation and their interest and decided to focus on this small but very successful
iconic neighborhood bakery.
The most recent change for the bakery was this month's complete re-do of the front of
the house which has drawn praise from their customers. Other changes have been the
expansion of their product line to include the macarons and petits gateaux produced by
Tout Sweet Patisserie, another artisan pastry operation owned by Dame Janet Griggs.
Throughout the tour the group observed the bakery in action with bread (the star of the
bakery) and cookies in various stages of hand-made artisan production.
The group then adjourned to the Fresca Restaurant a couple of blocks away for a tasty
Peruvian lunch. Mary continued her discussion of the current plight of Noe Valley Bakery
which is not small enough to be exempt from the health legislation of San Francisco
(but would be under the federal Affordable Care Act) but is also not large enough to be
able to absorb these significant increased labor costs which are likely to include
increases in minimum wage over the next two years. To help defray these expenses,
Noe Valley Bakery has placed a new surcharge on their products, which they will watch
closely to see how the market reacts. As Mary and Janet pointed out, the future of
small artisan shops is in question with San Francisco placing much higher costs on
businesses within the city limits while their competition just outside the City can
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produce and transport product at a cost advantage. They worry about the future and
what this will do to the character of San Francisco and the City's artisan food reputation
as the politicians focus their attention on recruiting high-tech companies to the City.
The next few years will be an important period for determining the health and
feasibility of the non-tech business community in San Francisco.
Fig Day
August 16, 2014
Wolfskill Germplasm Repository, Winters,
California
By Fran Gage
The Wolfskill facility, part of the USDA
Agricultural Research Service, collects,
preserves, evaluates, and distributes certain
crops so that they will be available for future
generations and for plant research.
Its focus includes kiwis, persimmons, figs, walnuts, almonds, olives, mulberries,
pistachios, stone fruit, pomegranates, and grapes. Staggering varieties of each of these
crops are maintained.
Our group, thirty-five or so Dames and their invitées,
were interested in the figs. We boarded a bus in the
nearby town of Winters on a sunny morning for the short
ride to the research facility. Once there, we gathered
around John Preece, the research leader, at the end of
a long allée of olive trees planted in 1859 by John
Wolfskill, the original owner of the property. He gave us
a brief description of his group's fascinating work. (One
colleague was off in Azerbaijan collecting new
specimens.)
Then, back on the bus, we headed to the fig orchards, John pointing out various trees
of note, such as an apricot that produced fruit with sun-kissed skin and deep orange
flesh. Although the fruit would win an apricot beauty contest, the taste was another
matter. It was not sweet at all. "If someone could successfully cross this with a sweet
apricot, it would be a big seller," he said.
When we arrived at the fig trees, we trooped off the bus and fanned out among the tall
trees, tasting different varieties. Most of these aren't found in stores; they are varieties
that need to be pollinated by wasps and are generally sweeter and crisper than
so-called common figs that don't need such pollination.
After thirty minutes of tasting as many figs as we could muster, we returned to the bus
with sticky fingers and layers of figs stuck to the bottom of our shoes to return to
Winters where we had a fig-centric lunch at Preserve.
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The meal started with four canapés, each
with a different type of fig, then segued
into a salad of figs, blackberries,
prosciutto, blue cheese, and extra-virgin
olive oil. The main course was a fig-glazed
rolled pork roast, reminiscent of a
porchetta, that was made with an estateraised, almond-finished suckling pig
served on a bed of roasted figs and Padron
peppers. We finished with a fig panna
cotta topped with brandied figs.
Completely sated, we slowly walked to
our cars for the trip back home.
Many thanks to Dames Kathleen Hill, Georgeanne Brennan, Elaine Corn, and Roberta
Klugman for their organizational effort, to John Preece for sharing his knowledge, and
to Cole Ogando, owner of Preserve, for a memorable lunch.
For more information about the Germplasm Repository, go to:
www.ars-grin.gov/dav
Induction of New Members Dinner
September 22, 2014
Wente Vineyards,
Livermore, California
By Fran Gage
Co-President, Amy Hoopes, and
Dame Carolyn Wente, graciously
hosted the induction dinner this year
at the oldest continuously operating
family-owned winery in California.
About forty Dames welcomed three
new members and congratulated
Jessica Battilana, the recipient of
the Karola Saekel Food Journalism
fellowship.
Here is the list of our new Dames, an impressive trio:
Cindy Daniel, co-owner of Shed, a café, market, and event space in Healdsburg that
received the James Beard award for Best Restaurant Design, 2014.
Lane Giguiere, owner of Matchbook Wine Company in Zamora, California.
Andrea Nguyen, a Santa Cruz-based author, teacher, and consultant who has written
four books about Vietnamese and Asian cuisine.
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The group dined on a salad of Purple
Cherokee Tomatoes, House-Made Ricotta,
Baby Kale, and Pine Nuts with a Balsamic
Reduction. Entrée selections were either
Pan-Seared Walu accompanied by
Creamed Cauliflower, Roasted Brussels
Sprouts, and Bacon Jam, or House-Smoked
Pork Shop served with Sautéed Greens,
White Cheddar Polenta, and Apricot-Onion
Marmalade. A de-constructed Banana
Cream Pie was the grand finale. Yum!
Karola Saekel Craib Excellence in Food
Journalism Fellowship
September 22, 2014
Wente Vineyards,
Livermore, California
By Fran Gage and Roberta Klugman
Dame Margo True introduced Jessica Battilana, the
fifth recipient of this fellowship, and presented her
with a check for $2,500 as an acknowledgement of
her good work and as encouragement to keep
writing. Jessica joins past recipients Novella
Carpenter, Sarah Henry, Twilight Greenaway, and
Emily Kaiser Thelin.
Jessica was most recently the senior editor for Tasting Table. Her writing has appeared
in many publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, Martha Stewart Living, Gastronomica, and Sunset. She is the co-author
of three cookbooks: Vietnamese Home Cooking, with Charles Phan (Ten Speed); Tartine
Book No 3, with Chad Robertson (Chronicle); and Sausage Making: A Complete Guide
with Recipes, with Ryan Farr (Chronicle).
For more about Jessica, go to her web site: http://jessicabattilana.com.
The scholarship review committee includes Dames Antonia Allegra, Janet Fletcher,
Margo True, and the four past recipients, Novella Carpenter, Sarah Henry, Twilight
Greenaway, and Emily Kaiser Thelin. They actively solicited confidential nominations
from our members, as well as the past recipients. This year the committee reviewed
eight candidates.
The membership is contacted via email for nominations (although the committee
accepts nominations throughout the year). Perspective candidates are women
journalists in the Bay Area who are committed to a career in food journalism, and
whose writing shows talent, promise, excellence, and includes a range and relevancy of
food subjects.
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McEvoy Ranch Tour and Lunch
October 10, 2014
Petaluma, California
By Fran Gage
McEvoy ranch covers 550 acres in West Marin, just
outside of Petaluma. Nan McEvoy took her first
shipment of Tuscan olive trees in 1991. Today 18,000
trees produce olives; in addition, a new program
produces small batches of wine from estate
vineyards. A variety of vegetables are also grown on
the ranch. Everything is farmed organically.
A group of twenty Dames and invitées drove
through an iron gate guarded by a fat stone rabbit
and met outside the building that houses the olive
mill. Dame Deborah Rogers walked us through the
process that turns olives into oil. Alas, the mill was
silent that day; it would be two more weeks before
the machinery that washes, crushes, churns, and
centrifuges the olives would begin to run. Olive
harvest depends on farming conditions, and the
olives needed a little more time on the trees.
We walked through the olive groves, some
interspersed with grape vines, stopping along the
way to hear about the different varieties of olives
and harvesting methods before arriving at a
Chinese pavilion, fashioned after one Nan saw on a
trip, at the top of the property.
There we enjoyed a lunch of assorted sandwiches and salads from Della Fattoria bakery,
sips of the three ranch-made wines, and a luscious quince and fig tart accompanied by
crème fraîche ice cream topped with saba that was made by Gerald Gass, the in-house
chef.
Many thanks to Dames Kathleen Hill and Deborah Rogers, as well as Ananda Bagiackas
and Jill Lee, for an informative and gustatory outing.
Chapter Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
October 25, 2014
Cakebread Cellars, Napa Valley
By Linda Anusasananan
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Happy Twenty-fifth Anniversary!
On October 25, Dolores Cakebread hosted a lunch to celebrate our chapter's silver
anniversary at Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley. After a tour of the winery's garden, the
twenty-one guests sat down to a sumptuous three-course lunch paired with Cakebread
Cellars wines.
As we ate lobster minestrone with garden
vegetables, Jerry Di Vecchio, our first
president, shared the history of our
chapter. In 1989, our San Francisco chapter
of Les Dames d'Escoffier was born. The
national office of LDEI encouraged Jerry Di
Vecchio and Pam Hunter to start a chapter
in the Bay Area so LDEI could have their
national conference in San Francisco. Jerry
and Pam invited women in food, wine, and
hospitality to Harry's Bar (now defunct) in
San Francisco. These nineteen women
became the founding members: Pam
Hunter, Jerry Di Vecchio, Linda
Anusasananan, Carolyn Wente, Heidi
Krahling, Dolores Cakebread, Toni Allegra,
Pat Boomer, Cynthia Coleman, Laurie
Chenel, Carol Field, Sue Fisher King, Sibella
Kraus, Sue Yung Li, Zelma Long, Martine
Saunier, Gig Owen, Lois Link, and Mary
Risley. At that meeting we shaped our
vision for our chapter. Mentoring and
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support for women would be our path.
Jerry became our first president.
Twenty-five years later, Jerry estimates
that our chapter has had about 165
members over the years. We claim MFK
Fisher plus four Grande Dames (Marion
Cunningham, Alice Waters, Jerry Di
Vecchio, and Dolores Cakebread), more
than any other chapter.
Jerry tried to piece together a list of past
presidents and members. She discovered
that neither national nor our chapter
owned a complete set of membership
directories with lists of officers.
Our Master of Ceremonies, Elaine Corn, proposed members help fill in the missing
names with a little contest. The one who could list the most chapter presidents with
the year they served would win. The winner was Nancy Ash with help from tablemates
Fran Gage and Laura Brainin-Rodriguez. She won a gift box of brownies donated by
Eileen Spitalny of Fairytale Brownies.
Beverly Soules-Barbour, one of the six
founding members in New York, told the
group the purpose of starting LDEI was to
raise the image of women in the food
world. "We chose the name Escoffier
because he was the first person to
recognize the importance of women in
gastronomy."
As we departed, Dolores sent us home
with beautiful persimmons and
pomegranates from her garden.
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Many thanks to: Dolores Cakebread and her staff for hosting another fabulous event,
Cakebread Culinary Director Brian Streeter for preparing a delicious lunch, Program
Chair Kathleen Hill who worked with Dolores, Jerry Di Vecchio for her persistent
research into our history, and Elaine Corn for Master of Ceremony duties.
New Members' Brunch
November 9, 2014
Home of Jerry Di Vecchio
San Francisco
By Laura Brainin-Rodriguez
We were welcomed into Dame Jerry Di Vecchio's home on a bright, sunny Sunday to
partake of the wonderful potluck food and wine offerings brought by sixteen of our
members. These included savory quiches, wonderful salads (egg, greens, bean salad),
Boston baked beans, artisanal cheeses, seasonal fruit, apple and applesauce cake,
scones, and brownies. We also got to select items from a large box of beautiful,
just-picked organic produce from former Dame Cathrine Sneed's Garden Project.
One of our three new members, Lane Giguiere, from the Sacramento area, was able to
attend and shared the fascinating story of how she got into the wine business. After
this, our hostess, Jerry, suggested we do a go-around and have everyone briefly share
her story.
It was a truly wonderful opportunity to hear about our members' current projects, as
well as something about the other things we had done before our current vocational and
avocational pursuits. This led to a brief discussion of how we might capture this
information in a way that furthers the goal stated by our Co-President Amy Hoopesopportunities to increase the visibility the SF Chapter of LDEI and its members, and
demonstrate all the ways we are contributing in a wide range of arenas.
Some possibilities for this include doing interviews of our members, starting with the
founding members, by other Dames who are personally and/or geographically close to
them, gathering any materials these Dames wish to share, such as the video produced
by Dolores Cakebread, articles, curriculum vitae, links to blogs, web sites, and
bibliographies.
Another possibility is to engage students from institutions, like the Art Institute
University, UC Berkeley School of Journalism, SF State School of Journalism and
Broadcasting, to do brief YouTube videos with our members briefly telling their stories
that we could link to our web site. Jerry and Laura offered to reach out to our members
in the New Year, to figure out the next steps.
After enjoying a delicious repast and libations we had an opportunity to hear at length
from former Dame Cathrine Sneed, who conceived and is in charge of The Garden
Project. (Read more about Cathrine's work, written by Jerry Di Vecchio, and suggestions
that were generated at the brunch in Dame News.)
Many thanks to Dame Jerry Di Vecchio for her many contributions- helping found our
Chapter, hosting us, opening her home, and providing an opportunity for us to hear
from our Members and from former Dame Cathrine Sneed about the Garden Project.
Everyone left feeling nourished physically as well as spiritually, inspired by the immense
amount of talent, dedication, and vision in the room and in the San Francisco Chapter
of LDEI!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
January 12, 2015, Ancestral Pot-Luck Dinner, details to follow
May 17, 2015, Art of Eating: A Tribute to MFK Fisher, details to follow
LDEI-SF Board
Amy Hoopes & Tanya Holland Co- Presidents
[email protected]
[email protected]
Janet Wyler Griggs
Treasurer & Immediate Past
President
[email protected]
Mary Gassen
Co-Treasurer
[email protected]
Helen Roberts
Sue Huffman-Robison
1st Vice President
Secretary
[email protected]
Jerry Anne Di Vecchio
Member-at-Large
[email protected]
Fran Gage
Potage
[email protected]
Kathleen Hill
Programs & Events Co-Chair
[email protected]
Eileen Spitalny
Programs & Events Co-Chair
[email protected]
[email protected]
Committee Chairs:
Green Table Initiative
Ann M. Evans of Ann M. Evans Consulting
[email protected]
Global Culinary Initiative Liaison
Sandra Matsukawa Hu of Special Fork
[email protected]
Les Dames d'Escoffier-SF Chapter | 816 E 4th Avenue | San Mateo | CA | 94401